MICF- Lazy Susan and Joel Creasey

Tonight were my final two shows of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. I started the evening at ACMI to see the UK sketch comedy duo Lazy Susan (Celeste Dring and Freya Parker) and their show Forgive Me, Mother! The minute they came out and greeted the crowd with, "Good evening, ladies and predators" I knew I would enjoy the show. They started out with a few harmless improvisation games, but woven through the hilarious sketches was the underlying threat that someone would die tonight, and Freya's increasing fear that a male audience member was after them. The threads of the various sketches, including Celeste hitting on an audience member when Freya worked to calm herself down, all culminated in a murder - but you need to see the show to find out who the victim was. This show was very well done and I highly recommend checking them out.

Next I went to the Forum for Joel Creasey's latest festival show Drink. Slay. Repeat. Joel came out onto the stage to some pyro going off at the sides of the stage. You know that Joel is going to give you all the juicy gossip from the past year in his shows, and he did not disappoint. He discussed his latest celebrity feud with the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, his encounter with Kylie Minogue at Sydney Mardi Gras, the controversy around what he said during Australia's Eurovision broadcast, and dealing with a stalker who wasn't happy with one of his tv appearances. He also told personal stories about his friends and family, including officiating a straight friend's wedding, his boyfriend's health scare, and how he dealt with the death of his nan. It was non-stop laughs throughout and Joel even cleverly did a call back to someone at the end of the show where he was able to get his ultimate revenge.

People Of Letters

The literary salon Women Of Letters holds events each month in Melbourne at The Thornbury Theatre to celebrate the lost art of letter-writing with people from different fields. Occasionally they invite men along to participate in either Men Of Letters or like this afternoon, People Of Letters events. Hosted by Angie Hart, today we had pairs of people (friends, siblings, partners) who wrote and read letters to each other.

The afternoon started with comedian Joel Creasey and television and radio personality Chrissie Swan talking about their friendship, where we learned the phrase "bitch cheese." Next up were the most moving letters of the afternoon from co-directors of Chapter Music and life partners Guy Blackman and Ben O'Connor, who talked about their lives together and love for each other. Then we heard from life long friends musician Clare Bowditch and actress Defah Dattner, who have been there for each other through many key life stages.

After an intermission the next three pairs took to the stage. Siblings and writers Benjamin Law and Michelle Law spoke about growing up together and what they meant to each other. Former WA Senator and Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens Scott Ludlam and his friend and Communications Advisor David Paris talked about life in politics and wishing they had looked into Scott's citizenship before he first took office nearly ten years ago. The final pairing was musician Paulie Stewart and his mentee, rapper Fablice Manirakiza (aka FLYBZ) who was a former child soldier in Burundi and refugee who arrived in Australia in 2007. They ended the event by getting everyone up out of their seats to dance along as Fablice rapped a song. Overall it was a moving and inspiring afternoon about the importance of relationships and bonds between people.

MICF- Joel Creasey and Rhys Nicholson

Tonight's Melbourne International Comedy Festival shows featured two of Australia's top young comedians (who also happen to be good friends). First up was Joel Creasey's Poser at Max Watt's. Joel's shows are always entertaining and this year didn't disappoint. Joel has reached the stage in his climb to fame of getting untrue stories about himself published in the tabloids. He shared gossip on various Australian "celebrities," told the hilarious story of his Thanksgiving dinner in Docklands with a group of gay American Trump supporters, and had funny and touching things to say about his encounters with Joan Rivers and Carrie Fisher before their passings.

Next I headed down to ACMI for Rhys Nicholson's show I'm Fine. Rhys was exquisitely dressed in a tailored suit with his perfectly coiffed red hair. His show covered a wide range of topics in a rapid fire style, including his social anxieties, awkward teen years (with a very cringeworthy story about hooking up on a tennis court), white privilege, and a visit to a sex shop with his long-term partner to enliven his"vanilla" tastes. The show finished with Rhys bringing out a very interesting prop.

MICF- Joel Creasey and Luisa Omielan

For Saturday night at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Belinda and I attended two very entertaining shows. We started off at Max Watt's to see Joel Creasey in The Crown Prince. The show began with a bit of a video highlights package before Joel hit the stage. His shows are like sitting around gossiping with your best friend, and he did not disappoint with some hilarious stories about his celebrity feuds with Russell Crowe and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, acting as Kendra's Aussie best friend for her reality show, and what really happens behind the scenes at award show red carpets and telethons. Joel even turned the pain of getting dumped by his long term boyfriend overseas into an expertly woven series of events about the highs and lows he experienced both professionally and personally during that period of his life. Joel's show was fast paced and very funny.

Next we headed over to the Victoria Hotel for UK comedian Luisa Omielan's show Am I Right Ladies?! As we entered the room Luisa was already up on stage singing and dancing around as she had her sound person running through a playlist of songs. Once the show started it was a solid 70 minutes of female empowerment as Luisa tackled issues around body image (even stripping down to her bra and underwear at one point), sex and mental health in a very powerful and honest way. The show was fantastic and ended with a hilarious recreation of a scene out of the movie Dirty Dancing with some help from the audience.

MICF: Wil Anderson, Arj Barker and Joel Creasey

It's Melbourne International Comedy Festival time once again and there are over 500 acts performing this year from 25 March - 19 April. I have gone through the program and shortlisted a bunch of shows (we'll see how many I end up getting to). My first MICF show was last Monday with Onagh for Wil Anderson's Political Wil at the Comedy Theatre, which is only running for three shows in total on Monday nights. Wil is doing two shows this year, but this one is focused on Australian politics and other things that wouldn't fit into his regular show. He covered a wide variety of topics, including Tony Abbott eating a raw onion, the Australian knighthood of Prince Philip, refugees, violence against women and his hatred of columnist Andrew Bolt, amongst other things. It was a funny and insightful 70 plus minutes and I actually enjoyed the darker moments of the show as it reminded me of the stand-up comedy I grew up watching. As Wil stated about 45 minutes in that he was where he thought he'd be at the 15 minute mark, it will be interesting to see how much the show changes each week.

Tonight Belinda and I started our Easter evening at the Melbourne Town Hall for Arj Barker's Get In My Head. This is the first MICF show of his I have caught, even though he is a regular visitor to Australia. I'll always have a soft spot for Arj as he also grew up in Marin. The show had an overarching theme of getting older and looking back at simpler times, such as when children had manners and people didn't have control over photos because they were taken on film. Portions of the material were blokey (his anti-aging "poo facials," freezing sperm at home and erections) but overall it was an entertaining hour, with the best bits of the night being about airplane boarding systems, what Bob Marley would be like today if he smoked as much weed as in the past, and surprisingly ISIS.

Next we headed down to ACMI to see Joel Creasey's show The Hurricane. Joel recently did a stint on the Australian version of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here in the South African jungle, so he was full of amusing anecdotes from that as well as other events in his life. His tales from the jungle were hilarious, especially about Maureen McCormick (aka Marsha Brady) and some of the other "celebrities" that were there. He also snarked about being invited back to the apartment of a closeted male star of the tv soap Neighbours for a sex party, and a particularly nasty run in at an interview with a two time Oscar winner. Joel is a fantastic storyteller and not afraid to share the inside dirt from his encounters, which resulted in a funny and fast-paced hour of comedy that ended with an amusing costume change.